For months now, pregnant women have been warned that Zika virus infection could lead to microcephaly in their newborns, but that's far from the only complication that the virus can cause. Researchers now warn that Zika is getting worse, and there's still no vaccine or cure for the virus. One question scientists have had is why it took so long to connect microcephaly and other birth defects with Zika; it's been around in Africa since the 1940s, so why didn't we see a surge in microcephaly back then? It turns out that the latest strain, originating in the South Pacific before moving to Brazil and spreading throughout Central and South America and the Caribbean, is far worse than the African strain.

And microcephaly is "just the tip of the iceberg," according to NBC News. The network described the case of a baby born to a Zika-infected mother whose head measurement was just on the border for a microcephaly diagnosis, but a brain scan at two months of age showed brain damage: calcifications, which are areas of hardened brain tissue caused by cell death, and ventriculomegaly, which are areas filled with fluid. The child's prognosis is unknown. It's possible that he could suffer the same fate as babies born with microcephaly, such as learning disabilities, vision and hearing problems, and physical disabilities.

LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty ImagesA pregnant woman holds a mosquito net in Cali on February 10, 2016. The Colombian Health Ministry began delivering mosquito nets for free to pregnant women to prevent the infection by Zika virus, vectored by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The World Health Organization on Tuesday urged caution about linking the Zika virus with a rare nerve disorder called Guillain-Barre which health officials in Colombia have blamed for three deaths. AFP PHOTO / LUIS ROBAYO / AFP / LUIS ROBAYO (Photo credit should read LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images)

A study published in the scientific journal Nature on Wednesday has found that Zika infection during pregnancy can lead to intrauterine growth restriction, cellular death, ocular abnormalities, and disrupted layers of the cerebral cortex. While microcephaly is by far the most dramatic effect of Zika, it's far from the only one. It's imperative that pregnant women do everything they can to avoid infection, including using insect repellent to avoid transmission from mosquitoes, and using condoms when having sex with a male partner (the mother of the child in NBC's example is believed to have been infected via sexual transmission while pregnant).